Review: Apple iPhone 5c

She's a Rainbow

Some people will look at the iPhone 5c and just see an iPhone 5 with a colorful plastic case and a price drop. It’s not a device that’s going to wow your friends like the iPhone 5s, with its fingerprint scanner and a new camera. And it’s true that the iPhone 5c is filled with what is effectively 2012 technology.

All of that’s by design. While the 5s is packed with advanced features that developers will need time to take advantage of, the 5c is more about simple marketing. Yes, at $100, it’s Apple play for the low-cost smartphone market (one where Android has become a dominant force). But more than that, it’s a phone that exists solely to appeal to the masses. Whether it’s first time buyers, teenagers, or anyone else who wants a fun, slightly more personalized device, this is the one designed to catch their eye.

And what kind of curmudgeon doesn’t love colors? The iPhone 5c comes coated in five of them: green, blue, yellow, white, and a kind of a coral pink. The pastel plastic case feels solid but a bit more slippery than the iPhone 5 or 5s. It’s reminiscent of the iPhone 3G. And like the iPhone 3G, that slickness will fade as the oils in your hand and the general griminess of the outside world adheres to the phone, giving it a bit more grip.

Overall, the build quality is very nice. The phone doesn’t bend or creak or flex — there’s a steel skeleton inside to give it extra rigidity. In fact, the only issue is that the mute button seems to jiggle slightly more than that of the iPhone 5 or 5s.

The 5c won’t suffer from the distressed metal look that some older iPhone 5 and 5s phones eventually take on. That’s because the phone’s color-infused plastic back makes scratches and gashes considerably less noticeable. I tried to scratch the back panel with a knife, and it took a good amount of force before I could leave a mark. I’m sure the unsheathed phone will weather time in a pocket with keys quite well. But that doesn’t mean the new enclosure will make you entirely happy. If you’re upgrading from the iPhone 5, or if you plan to share cases with a family member with a 5 or 5s, you’re going to be disappointed. All that plastic and steel reinforcement added some thickness to the iPhone 5c. That means all but the most elastic silicon cases won’t fit properly. Even then, the volume buttons may not work.

Of course, a case defeats the entire purpose of buying a colorful phone. Thanks to the edge of the plastic back not lining up exactly with the edge of the front glass, the iPhone 5c looks like it’s already in a case. But it’s something to consider if you’re a “case person” — or if you draw your livelihood from the ecosystem that’s been built up around the iPhone line (of course, Apple makes its own cases designed specifically for the 5c).

There are a few differences between the 5c and 5 when it comes to the internals. The newer model has a beefier 1510 mAh battery. In my week of tests, the battery held out for 12 hours, which included two hours of listening to music (streamed and locally stored), heavy social media use, and extended use of location services via Find My iPhone and Google Maps. It’ll make it through the average — or slightly above-average — day without needing power.

The Retina screen still looks great too. The A6 processor, while a year old, feels snappy even with Apple’s new animation-heavy iOS 7. You’re not going to pick up this phone and feel like you’re dealing with old technology. Plus, thanks to the new multi-spectrum LTE chip from Qualcomm, you’ll be able to access more LTE bands around the world. Just don’t expect any mobile internet speed increases over the iPhone 5. The 5, 5c, and 5s all cap out at 100mbps. Oh and about that steel frame — in addition to acting as reinforcement, it also acts as an antenna that supposedly improves the LTE reception. It sounds great in theory, but in practice, the phone didn’t seem to offer up additional signal in trouble spots around San Francisco.

Even if you can’t access the Internet in certain neighborhoods with your iPhone, you can still enjoy iPhone 5-level photographs from the back of the 5c. The rear-facing camera shoots the same quality photos as the 5 — the front facing camera got spec bump and matches what’s found in the 5s.

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Almost everything else in the 5c — the processor, the RAM, the screen — is carried over from the iPhone 5. This sharing of parts from last year’s phone is likely Apple’s way of making sure it can keep up with production demand for the 5c without making too many changes to its supply chain. If you’re a company trying to sell a cheaper phone, it makes sense to stick with the current distribution channels and parts. Plus, almost all of the extra iPhone 5 parts Apple has sitting around in its inventory can be used in the new 5c.

By limiting changes in parts, Apple saves money. And those savings are passed on to you, the person paying $100 for a really sharp phone. Don’t be surprised if, in the future, Apple is able to negotiate even better deals on these older components and carriers start giving away the 5c for free along with a two-year contract.

Even at $100, the iPhone 5c a good phone. It’s just not an entirely new phone. If you’re currently using an iPhone 5, you should skip the 5c. Either wait another year or spend the extra $100 and go straight to the iPhone 5s — the flagship device where Apple dumped its most significant internal enhancements like a 64-bit processor, better sensor technology, a fingerprint reader, and a new camera.

The iPhone 5c is really meant to appeal to people who aren’t yet iPhone 5 owners. I can also see it being the iPhone parents will give their children, and anyone on a budget that really wants an iPhone but can’t swing that extra $100. And that’s fine. Because the iPhone 5c is a good fun phone with year-old technology. For many, that’s good enough.